Idol (Yoasobi song)

• 1. Origins And Development

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  Yoasobi released the song Idol on the 12th of April 2023. The track served as the opening theme for the first season of Oshi no Ko. Ayase wrote and produced the entire composition alone. He had read the source manga before receiving the commission to create music for it. Around 2022, he drafted a demo titled Kyūkyoku no ōgi. This early version portrayed a girl who was an unbeatable fighter reminiscent of Street Fighter character Chun-Li. The initial plan involved releasing the demo as a Vocaloid song. However, the duo received an offer to perform the anime's opening theme instead. Ayase abandoned the Vocaloid plan and interwove his original demo with new compositions. The full-length song premiered in a ninety-minute episode titled Mother and Children at selected movie theaters on March 17. A preview appeared in the official trailer uploaded on February 19.

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• 2. Musical Composition Analysis

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  The song runs three minutes and thirty-three seconds long. It combines Japanese idol-styled pop, hip-hop, rock, and video game music elements. Programmed percussion drives the beginning of the track. Bright and poppy sounds create an atmosphere described as idol-like bubblegum. Dizzying transitions include jazz-funk slap bass and gritty sub-bass. An orchestral and electronic-sounded chorus follows these elements. Dark trap metal-like melodies appear later in the structure. American musician Ghostemane inspired the strong lows in the production. Bass guitar played during Rich Brian's live performance at the 2022 Head in the Clouds Festival also influenced the sound. Real Akiba Boyz provided uncredited background cheering shouts. Gospel-styled background vocals sung in English praise the idol figure. Critics noted the song conjures technicolor pop similar to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Music critic Hwang Sun-up cited Blackpink's How You Like That for its grand intro.

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• 3. Commercial Chart Performance

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  Idol became the fastest song to reach one billion streams in Oricon history. The Recording Industry Association of Japan certified it double platinum for digital sales exceeding 500,000 units by April 2024. Streaming certifications reached diamond status surpassing 500 million times within 295 days after release. The song topped the Billboard Global Excl. US chart, marking the first Japanese-language song to achieve this position. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Global 200, the highest peak by a Japanese act at that time. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported it as the nineteenth best-selling song globally in 2023. Yoasobi earned 1.01 billion subscription streams equivalents worldwide according to IFPI data. The track spent twenty-two non-consecutive weeks atop the Japan Hot 100 chart. It broke records for accumulating 100 million on-demand streams in Japan within five weeks. Sales figures included 33,867 digital downloads during its initial week on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart.

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• 4. Critical Reception And Accolades

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  Danny Guan from Game Rant praised Idol as a perfect representation of Ai Hoshino. Suzie Suzuki compared the song to Kyoko Koizumi's 1985 single Nantettatte Idol and 2010s female idols. Real Sounds Mio Komachi dubbed the song standing out among Yoasobi discography. Music critic Tássia Assis called the song their magnum opus so far. Patrick St. Michel from The Japan Times described the song as disorienting but certainly catchy. The track won Best Animation Video and Song of the Year at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. It received Best Anime Song at the 8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Song of the Year awards came in both download and streaming categories at the 38th Japan Gold Disc Award. JASRAC Awards granted Gold Prize status in both 2024 and 2025. Music Awards Japan honored it with Top Global Hit from Japan and Song of the Year for Creators in 2025. Despite success, the song did not receive Song of the Year at the 65th Japan Record Awards.

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• 5. Visual Media Production

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  Naoya Nakayama directed the animated music video for Idol. Doga Kobo produced the visual content alongside anime production duties. The video premiered on the 13th of April 2023, shortly after Oshi no Ko televised premiere. It featured bright and dark symbolism depicting Ai Hoshino and her twin children Aqua and Ruby. A scene showed Aqua and Ruby watching their mother perform on television as high school students. This specific moment does not appear in the original anime series. The director described the final scene as the world that Ai wanted to see. The video became the fastest music video by any Japanese act to reach 100 million views within 35 days. It surpassed NiziU's Make You Happy which took 62 days to achieve the same milestone. As of May 2025, the video gained over 600 million views globally. The English version's music video released later on the 26th of May 2023.

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• 6. Live Performances And Tours

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  Yoasobi debuted the performance of Idol on the 5th of April 2023, at Denkōsekka Arena Tour in Nagoya. They included it as the only song of the encore setlist. The duo performed at a free TikTok special live concert at Theater Milano-za in Shinjuku on April 24. Subsequent tours included the 2023, 2024 Asia tour and Pop Out Zepp Tour in 2024. They appeared at Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals during 2024. The Chō-genjitsu Dome Live took place in 2024 followed by an Asia Tour spanning 2024 to 2025. A televised performance occurred at the 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen held on December 31. Selected members from ten participating Japanese and Korean idol groups joined the stage. Groups included Seventeen, Nogizaka46, NiziU, Be:First, NewJeans, JO1, Stray Kids, Sakurazaka46, Le Sserafim, and MiSaMo. Singer Ano and actress Kanna Hashimoto also appeared for a viral posture segment.

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• 7. Cultural Impact And Legacy

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  A recreated video connecting Oshi no Ko title sequence with Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo went viral in late April 2023. The meme replaced Idol's chorus with JAM Project's Storm Kim wa kanpeki de kyūkyoku no Gettā. Yoasobi and Ichirou Mizuki responded to the video via Twitter accounts. The phrase won Gold Award at the 2023 Internet Buzzword Award. Fan-made choreography created by Kotaro Ide gained attraction as an Internet challenge on TikTok. As of December 2023, the song garnered 7.9 billion views on that platform. It was the most-searched song on Google in 2023. TV Asahi survey chose it as the best anime song of the Reiwa era among 10,000 people. Overseas fans voted it second-most best anime song behind Yoko Takahashi's A Cruel Angel's Thesis. Airi Suzuki performed the song at TV Asahi YouTube program Dōga, Hajimete Mimashu on the 10th of June 2023. Her version accumulated ten million views by September. Retired figure skater Marin Honda performed an ice skate show featuring Idol at Fukuoka on the 28th of January 2025.

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